Drunk drivers may face new sanctions

MOTORISTS CAUGHT over the alcohol limit or driving dangerously may be subject to a new range of sanctions, including retraining or the requirement to fit an alcolock or speed monitoring system to their vehicle.

Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar said the Government was considering legislation to widen the options available to judges and to address the issue of drivers who repeatedly commit serious offences.

He told the Road Safety Authority’s conference on Recidivist Behaviour and Driver Rehabilitation in Dublin Castle yesterday that international evidence showed extra sanctions, in addition to fines, disqualification or imprisonment, were required.

The proposals would see judges given the power to order drivers to resit their tests, attend additional training, fit an alcolock – which will prevent a vehicle starting if alcohol is detected on the driver’s breath – install a speed limiter or impose a curfew.

Such measures would seek to balance the requirement for sanctions to punish and deter and the need to retrain to reduce recidivism, he said. The Minister said retraining options, which would result in a reduction in the period of disqualification or the penalty points allocated for an offence, must take account of what is acceptable to public opinion. Offenders will be required to pay for retraining.

The measures, which will require primary legislation, have been discussed by the Cabinet subcommittee on road safety.

Mr Varadkar said research suggested speed-awareness courses could be considered for low-end speed offenders as an alternative to prosecution.

Noel Brett, chief executive of the RSA, said the authority was planning to introduce three different types of training courses, for drink, drug and dangerous driving. He said the RSA would license service providers to deliver the training.

The department is considering legislative changes to target drug driving. The Medical Bureau of Road Safety is examining the effectiveness of new drug testing equipment as part of a bid to improve the detection of motorists driving under the influence of drugs.

It is also considering a legal change that would see each drug given a level, above which a driver would be convicted if that drug was found in their system. Currently, prosecuting authorities must prove both the existence of a drug and that the drug caused impairment.

The penalty-points system was designed to tackle recidivist drivers with the twin sanctions of potentially losing their licence and higher insurance premiums.

Retired judge Michael Pattwell said penalty points were not a punishment “until you get to the magic number of 12”. To date 1,473 drivers have been disqualified for reaching this number.